


Derek's Choice

by Wiccan507



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Derek dies to see the future but he's not really dead., Derek see's his future., Human Derek, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Mentions of Cancer, Sick Stiles, future kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-29
Updated: 2014-01-29
Packaged: 2018-01-10 12:25:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1159733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wiccan507/pseuds/Wiccan507
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek lost his whole family, that was never the way his life was supposed to go, he was supposed to be happy and live a long life with a partner that loved him. However somewhere something went wrong and fate fucked him over, but one day fate decided he deserved to know his future. As retribution for everything that they had taken. If he goes Left he meets Stiles, goes Right he meets Jennifer. So they send someone to show him what his future’s will be and give him his choice...left or right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Derek's Choice

Derek Hale is 31 years old and he had spent most of his life alone. When he was 17 his whole family died in a house fire. It was never anything suspicious, there was faulty wiring in the basement that his dad had been meaning to fix and one night it just sparked. The basement had obviously been filled with old furniture, christmas decorations, boxes of stuff they could never throw away like baby clothes and it hadn’t really taken long for it all to just catch on fire. Sure the fire alarms went off but there wasn’t enough time for the family to get out, the police told him that smoke inhalation probably killed them first but its not like that made it better that they hadn’t burned. His family had still died, hell he would have died with them if he hadn’t snuck out. He’d had a headache and he would always go out to the preserve to clear his head when he had a headache. It wasn’t exactly uncommon he spent more time outside than he ever did in and if his parents heard him they just let it slide. He sometimes wonders what would have happened if they hadn’t let it slide and followed him out then maybe they would be alive.  So Derek’s life had never really been easy so that was probably why when he got to the end of the street he never saw the car coming. It was painful, holy shit was it painful, but at the same time it was like he wasn’t actually feeling anything, this meant he was dying, right? 

“You’re not really dying Der.”

“Funny because you look just like my dead sister Laura.”

“Could you talk if you were dead?” She grabbed his hand and yanked him up till he was stood in front of her. He looked over his shoulder and saw his own body laying on the floor. There was blood coming out of his nose and his ear, he was definitely dead.

“God you’re dramatic. You are not dead.”

“I look pretty dead Laura.”

“Derek listen to me, you are getting a chance here. A once in a lifetime chance and once this is over you are going to go back to before you came out of that street.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“You got dealt a shitty hand Der, fate knows that, so there making up for it.”

“They're gonna kill me!”

“No. There giving you a choice at your future.”

“Say I believe you, what are you gonna do?”

“I’m here to show you what your life could be like and then it’s up to you. You weren’t supposed to get hit by a car that’s some other guy’s fate, we kind of borrowed it.”

“Borrowed?”

“Yeah, after this is over, it’ll get shifted back, he’ll be lying on that road and you’ll be stood at the end of the street deciding which way to go.”

“That’s not fair to him.”

“Derek no matter what happens his fate was to die, yours isn’t. You can accept this and return after seeing your future or decline it and return now, either way he’s going to die and you deserve something to make up for all this crap.”

“Laura I can’t...”

“Derek I’m gonna tell you something that I’m probably not allowed to tell you but fate’s my bitch so I don’t really care, that guy dies in 47 of his futures, yeah 47 out of thousands isn’t a lot but that’s still higher than your whole family dying.”

“What?”

“Ask me. Ask me how many futures there are that led up to everyone dying.”

“How many?”

“Two.”

“What?”

“Don’t get me wrong Derek there are hundreds of variations were people still died but you weren’t the only one left. Mom lived, or dad, or even me. But you got fucked over because out of all those thousands there were only two were everyone died. So don’t say you can’t because you deserve this.”

“Okay Laura okay.”

“You’ll do it?”

“Yeah. Show me my options.” Laura beamed at him and then threw her arms around his shoulders. He huffed a laugh and froze a little before putting his arms around her waist.

“Any chance you can just hang around after this?” She pulled away and gave him a small sad smile.

“I wish I could Der, you have no idea how hard it was watching you after the fire. The nights you drank yourself near death, the constant fighting, and all I wanted to do was be there for you and let you know that it was all gonna be okay.”

“God you must be so disappointed in me.”

“What? Derek no. I would never ever be disappointed in you, you were 17 and you lost everything I promise you I was impressed that you didn’t fall further, and I am so proud that you managed to turn your life around.” Derek tried to wipe away the tear that rolled down his cheek without Laura noticing but by the little smile she gave him he knew she’d seen. He really had enough emotion for one day.

“Okay so where are we headed first!”  
“Well you know how I always like to give the bad news first and then the happy so I think we should go the happy route second.”

“Laura I really don’t want anymore sadness in my life I’ll pick now which route is the happy?”

“I can’t tell you that, it’s kind of like to make a decision it has to be an informed one, otherwise no dice.”

“Fine, lets go, but get it over with quickly.” Laura smiled at him and then she put her hand on his arm as she pulled him aside. Derek shot her a look but she ignored it in favour for looking down the street. Derek followed her eye line and he let out a short gasp as he saw himself walking down the street. He looked just as he had before the car hit him, he walked past him and Derek wanted to reach out and tell him about the car but Laura held him back and he watched himself walk to the end of the street. He tried to prepare himself for what he knew was coming but instead Derek looked down at his phone, which he knew was the address of his new client, and then he looked up and down the street before deciding to go left.

“Now what?”

“Now we follow.” Laura pulled him along and they watched Derek as he wandered down the street and looked around trying to figure out where he was. He walked a little further down and came to a new street and obviously he was completely lost. Derek couldn’t help but laugh at himself as he stood in the same spot trying to make it look like he totally knew where he was because he never got lost. Laura grabbed his arm and whispered “Here it comes!”, Derek looked down at her and she had the same smile she had worn when she told him that she had gotten him a date with the girl in her year, it’s funny that he can’t remember her name now. He looked over at himself and saw a young man tap him on the shoulder. Laura bounded forward to listen and Derek chuckled as he followed her.

“Hey, you look kind of lost.”

“I’m not lost, I’m just getting my bearings.”

“Right, of course, well how about I just help you get your bearings a little faster.” Derek moved closer and he looked at the man he was talking to. He had brown spiky hair and a little up turn to his nose, moles scattered his face and his lips were full and a light shade of pink, but the one thing that caught his attention was the man’s eyes. The edge of his eyes were crinkled as he smiled and the light of the sun peeking between the buildings hit his face and seemed to create a ring of gold around his pupil. Laura cleared her throat and Derek realised he’d been staring at the man.

“I suppose a little help never hurt anyone.”

“No I guess not.”

“Tell you what why don’t we go into this coffee shop here and grab a drink and you can get your bearings better.”

“Well I suppose sitting down with coffee will definitely help, as long as I definitely have company?”

“Of course, I would never leave a lost man without company.”

“Since you’re helping me allow me to pay.”

“I definitely can’t leave you now.”

“I’m Derek.”

“Stiles.” Derek watched as they walked in to the coffee shop and sat down at the table closest to the window. He looked over at Laura and she smiled at him with the most innocent smile he’d ever seen.

“What?”

“Nothing, you two are just cute is all.”

“Somehow I think you're a worse liar in death.”

“Well come on Der I haven’t seen you smile like that since we were all alive.”

“Believe me I know.”

“You wanna just go ahead and skip to your first date because honestly the talk in there is just a lot of getting to know each other and boring crap like that.”

“I might want to know that stuff!”

“Then you can know it if you choose to go left.”

“Fine. Let’s just go.”

Laura had somehow changed everything, it was suddenly night and it was pouring down. Derek tried to move under the protection of the building but Laura just laughed and stood out in the middle of the path. He moved hesitantly towards her and raised his hand to watch as the rain fell through his hand, he looked up to see her chuckling.

“We aren’t really here remember, were just seeing what could be.”

“Right, I just forgot for moment. So why are we still outside the coffee shop you know I don’t go out in the rain.”

“Well we are here because it’s four days later and you have a date.” Laura was practically bouncing in excitement but before he could say anything she took off down the street. He gaped as he watched her run away but he quickly shook himself out of it and chased her down the street, he could hear her laughing as he ran after and wondered how he had even forgotten that sound. He ran in to her back as she stopped outside of a plain building. The street was practically bare as he looked up and down it, it was only illuminated by the street lamps and the rain was heavy and loud as it hit the floor.

“Where am I?”

“Coming.”

“I’m wh...” Derek was interrupted as he heard someone running down the street. He turned and he saw himself dressed in his nicest shirt and jeans and his jacket was pulled around him as he ran towards them. He seemed to slow down as he reached the building and he came to a stop right outside it. Derek looked over to Laura and she jerked her head towards his other self. He watched as he took a couple deep breaths and then pushed in through the door that Derek had barely noticed before. Laura pulled him along and they followed into what was actually a restaurant. There wasn’t many people there, a few people along the window and a couple in the back corner. The hostess greeted Derek and they followed her to a booth at the end of the window’s. As they walked closer Derek noticed Stiles already sitting on his side of the booth, his hair was wet and sticking to his forehead, rain had soaked into his shirt around his neck and shoulders. Derek watched as they greeted each other and looked around to speak to Laura but she had taken a seat in the booth with them and was watching them talk with her head in her hands. He took a seat in the booth and waited until she looked at him.

“You look ridiculous.”

“Oh shut up, I’m happy for you.”

“I know it’s just...you said this was the unhappy future, well I look pretty fucking happy.”

“Just watch okay.” Derek sighed but he mirrored her position regardless. Stiles talked a lot and he waved his hands a little as he talked but Derek didn’t really mind it. He started to pay attention to the conversation.

“...I’m telling you the truth. In school everyone was sure that he had a crush on the coach! He bought him birthday presents and he would call him out of school just to chat, one time we even heard that he went to the coach’s house when he was sick with soup.”

“He took soup?”

“Yeah, and none of us had ever even been to the coach’s house so we don’t even know how he knew where he lived.”

“Maybe he followed him home one time?”

“Its likely dude. Wait how did you say you knew Greenberg again?”

“He just applied for a job at my company.”

“Oh crap. I mean he’s great, you know not at all stalkerish and he’s super friendly and if you're sick he’s so kind to bring you soup. And he’d never forget your birthday.” Neither Derek could prevent the laugh that seemed to bubble out of their mouths, and he supposed they didn’t really want to when Stiles relaxed and smiled over at him.

“You should smile all the time.”

“What?”

“It’s just you look like you don’t really smile a lot but dude I know this is a first date but you have like a ridiculously beautiful smile.”

“You do as well you know.”

“Well now that we got me blushing out of the way for the night let’s talk more about you.”

“Well as I told you the other day I own my own company, it’s a construction company for houses mostly but we do some architecture and agriculture work as well.”

“So?”

“We sometimes might just design a garden, or design someones house for them but we won’t build it, and then other times we might be hired for an entire complex.”

“Sounds interesting.”

“Don’t worry I don’t expect you to sit there and talk about my job.”

“No I want to, you enjoy it so I want to know. What made you get in to it?”

“I don’t think thats good first date material.”

“Okay, then you can just tell me on a different date.”

“You want there to be more?”

“Hell yeah I do! Guy like you, I need to keep you around to show off to all my friends.”

“You just want to show me off?”

“Derek I’m kidding. I do actually like you, I mean look at the weather and I’m here. I’ve cancelled dates for less.”

“Really?”

“Yeah I mean there was this one guy who asked me out at the library. He was so friendly but he kind of gave me the creeps, like when someone is too friendly and you just know they're hiding something. And I panicked and said yes and then two days later I called him and said that my sink had flooded so I couldn’t make it. Which wasn’t technically a lie, I mean the sink was blocked and there was this puddle on the floor that took forever to mop up.”

“You called it off for a puddle...”

“You’d have done it too okay. He was just always there like he was always at the library and then he would be at the coffee shop as well and then one time he was literally in my lectures but he didn’t even do that class Derek. He didn’t do that class.” And that was it for both Derek’s and Laura, none of them could do anything but laugh and even though Stiles didn’t know three people were technically laughing he managed to look insulted enough for all of them. Derek tried to straighten up and he wiped under his eyes a little and beamed over at Stiles.

“Okay. Fair is fair I shall tell you my own story. When I went to college there was this girl who really liked me and she told everyone that she was in love with me. Well obviously she never told me, I didn’t actually find out about 6 months later when I was at this party and I was hitting on this guy and the girl had a lot of friends, and they were all there and she’d told them that we were dating so they all thought that I was about to cheat on her. Long story short I had a bright red cheek for hours, my face hurt like hell, the guy called me an ass threw his drink on me and a week later I had to get the girl to do a very public break-up because she refused to say she lied.” Derek watched as Stiles cracked up and gripped the table to stop himself from falling out of his chair, Derek looked over to Laura who looked amused but confused.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ve been watching over you for years and I don’t remember that.”

“Oh yeah because that never happened.”

“Then why would you tell him it did?”

“He wasn’t smiling.”

“So?”

“He should always be smiling.”

“Who knew you were so sappy.” Derek smiled over at her and he left the booth, Laura scrambled after him and they left the restaurant.

“Why did we leave? You're not even to the best bits yet!”

“What happens?”

“Well you guys talk a lot more and fall a little bit more for each other, then eventually you invite him to your...”

“Not tonight Laura. What happens in this future that makes it the bad one?”

“Der, I’m not allowed to tell you. I have to show you it for reasons.”

“Reasons?”

“You know its easier to believe something when you see it than just hear it.”

“Can you tell me how long I have with him?”

“17 years.”

“So I only get to be with him till I’m 48 and then what...does he leave me?”

“I can’t answer that.”

“Just tell me something.”

“He’s going to love you so much Derek and you will want to give everything for him. I’m sorry Derek, I wish it wasn’t like this, I wish I could make this easier for you.”

“I can’t talk about this, just take me to the next bit or whatever.” Laura sniffed and gave a slight nod before everything changed again. Derek looked around the unfamiliar bedroom and frowned as Laura moved over to the corner. Derek followed her and for some reason he knew this was the time to just keep quiet and to just take in whatever was going to happen. Laura leaned closer to him and in a quiet voice she told him “This is Stiles’s apartment, you’ve been together about a year here.” He looked over towards the bed when a loud groan erupted and someone seemed to shuffle around under the covers.

“Derek?” Derek froze at the sound of his name and Laura held her laugh behind her hand, and he relaxed when he realised that Stiles couldn’t actually see him. He turned slightly as the bedroom door was pushed open and his future self walked in with two mugs of coffee. He put one down on the bedside table closest to Stiles and then walked round the bed to climb back into what was obviously his side. Stiles pushed the sheet over his head and looked at the coffee mug now available to him. He pushed himself up so that his back was resting on the headboard and then grabbed his coffee and inhaled.

“I know you do this like every day but I love you for it a little more every day.”

“Yeah I love you too.”

“I know you do, have you seen all this, how can you resist.”

Derek snorted then smirked over at Stiles “I think we both know that out of the both of us it is I that can keep my hands to myself the longest.”

“Oh my god you literally won that by like 3 seconds Derek, I still want a rematch it wasn’t fair you cheated!”

“How did I cheat?”

“Because I know for a fact that you waited to propose the idea just after you worked out and you were all shirtless and hot.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Stiles twisted to put his coffee on the table and Derek did the same obviously expecting whatever was coming. Derek pulled up the sheet a little and Stiles moved so that he was straddling Derek’s lap and his hands settled at Stiles’s waist. It was obviously a move they were familiar with and position they probably did often. Stiles settled one hand over Derek’s heart and then spoke quietly enough that it could have been missed if it hadn’t been for the quiet of the bedroom.

“Don’t think for one second that I am not gonna punish you for cheating but I actually have something I want to ask you.”

“Okay.” Derek moved his hands up and down Stiles’s sides to comfort him.

“Well I know we’ve been together for a year and I’ve wanted to officially ask you this for a while but I was wondering if maybe you would want to move in with me?” Stiles laugh rang out in the bedroom as Derek flipped them so he was above Stiles. He pushed forward and kissed Stiles till they were both a little breathless.

“I would love to live with you.” Derek jerked a little as Laura grabbed his arm and she smiled at him. He looked back at Derek and Stiles and nodded his head, they deserved to be able to act like they had all the time in the world.

Everything changed and Laura started walking as soon as they came to a street, it looked familiar but he couldn’t really figure out why. He stopped and looked around to figure out why but Laura huffed and dragged him along.

“Where are we going?”

“To see where you are.”

“You don’t know?”

“Just shut up and go look in the shop.” Derek rolled his eyes but walked over to the shop window anyway. He could see himself inside and he looked like he was talking to one of the sales people.

“I don’t understand.”

“Did you figure out why this street was familiar yet?”

“Not really no.”

“When you were 10 years old mom brought you with her to a small jewellery shop. Her and dad were renewing their vows and they decided to get their rings engraved. And...”

“They used the same shop they bought them from. So I’m...”

“Buying an engagement ring.”

“How long have we...”

“3 years in 4 days. I think you can guess when you're going to propose.”

“Can we go see it?”

“Sure.” Derek braced himself a little as the scene changed again, all the changing was kind of giving him a headache. He found himself back in front of the indescript building where they had their first date, the building had obviously changed in three years and the door was more noticeable than it had been.

“I propose to him in the same restaurant we had our first date.”

“Romantic right? I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“But I would never ask someone to marry me in public, too much pressure and I’m pretty sure I’m gonna be nervous as it is, like I need people judging me.”

“That’s why its not really in public.” Laura pulled him into the building and the restaurant looked closed. There was only one table set up, the booth at the end of the windows, and it looked like their was only one waitress working. “See you kind of hired out the whole place.”

“Have I asked him yet?”

“You’re still wearing clothes so I’m gonna say no.”

“You’re hilarious.” Laura smirked at him and then they made their way over to the booth where Derek was sitting alone, he was playing with the edge of his napkin and he kept touching his jacket pocket. They watched as he seemed to grow more and more nervous then Stiles rushed back in and sat in the booth. He smiled over at Derek and Derek saw himself relax a little.

“I can’t believe how quiet it is, I mean the fact that we're the only people here is weird, right?”

“Not really.”

“How Derek, there is literally no one else here, and we’ve been coming here for years it’s never been this empty?”

“Its not weird because I bought the place for the night.”

“You what? Seriously all this for our anniversary, I’ve told you before you do not need to spend money on me.”

“I know. Believe me I know you never shut up about it when I do. I did not just do this for our anniversary.”

“Okay...”

“This is because I’m happy. I am happier with you than I can ever remember being and I don’t ever want to lose that, I don’t ever want to lose you. Stiles I love you so much.” Derek reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box, he heard a small gasp from Stiles and smiled “Stiles will you marry me?”

“Oh my god, of course I will, I love you so much!” Stiles scrambled around the booth to Derek’s side and kissed him. It was nothing more than a brush of lips and a clack of teeth as they both laughed. They put their foreheads together and smiled as Derek pulled the ring out of the box and pushed it on to Stiles’s finger.

“Take me out of here.”

“Derek?”

“Take me anywhere else Laura.”

“I can take you to the wedding, or the honeymoon, your daughter Derek, you have a daughter.”

“He doesn’t leave me does he?”

“No.” She wanted him to stop, needed him to not ask, she couldn’t lie about what happens anymore, couldn’t hide it any longer, she knew he’d figure it out.

“And he doesn’t cheat on me?”

“No.”

“Does he die?”

“Yes.”

“Show me.”

“Derek.”

“Show me.”

“Why?”

“Because all of this, seeing myself be that happy makes me want to choose to go left and I can’t do this, so I need you to show me why I will go right.”

“Derek please think this through.”

“Just take me there.”

“Okay.” Laura slipped her hand in to his and they were stood in a hospital room. It was raining and Stiles was on his back, head facing the window, a car drove past outside and briefly lit up the room, even in that light Derek could see that Stiles was paler and thinner than he had been moments ago. He walked closer and let his hand slip out of Laura’s, he traced the outline of Stiles’s jaw with his hand, his hand hovering just over the skin. Derek looked up as someone creeped into the room. It was a young woman and she looked about 16 years old.

“Who is she?”

“That’s Julia Stilinski-Hale your daughter, you and Stiles adopted her about 10 years ago. You guys didn’t really want to wait after you got married but obviously it took a while. She has a sister who is 5, surrogate mom and she is Stiles’s biological daughter, Claudia Laura Stilinski-Hale. Julia isn’t supposed to be in this room.”

“Why not?”

“Stiles has cancer, same type as his mom and he know’s what it does to someone to see your parent die so he banned you from letting them in. You’ve currently fallen asleep in an on call room with Claudia by order of Stiles’s dad.” Derek looked over at Laura when he heard her sniff, there were tears rolling down her face and he wanted nothing more than to just wrap her up in his arms but he had to see this, had to see why he couldn’t choose this. Julia moved across the room softly and sat in the seat beside the bed.

“Hey papa, I know you banned me. I know that the ban is more for me than Claudia because she would listen to anything dad would say but me I’ve always been more of a papa’s girl, which really just means I’m as stubborn as you. Its kind of selfish that you would do that to me, and I know you're the one d...but how could you do this to me. You’re my papa and you were going to take away the last few months I have with you.” Julia rested her head on the side of the bed and cried, she choked on a sob as a hand rested on her head.

“I’m so sorry baby.” Julia interlaced her fingers with her papa’s hand and reached up to kiss his forehead.

“I know you don’t want me here but your my papa and I will not let you sit in here alone.”

“Oh sweetie no, I always want you here. Come up here.” Stiles and Julia arranged the wires so that she could lay beside him and she put her hand on his shoulder and he stroked his hand through her hair. “You know when me and your dad first met you, you were only five and so beautiful that we just knew you were our daughter. It took us so long to get you that some days I thought that you would never be ours but then one day there was no more paperwork or offices or interviews and we were allowed to come get you. I mean by that point you were six but you managed to get more beautiful every time I saw you. I just kept telling your dad that we would have a constant problem with boys or girls. And then when we finally got you home it felt like you’d always been there. Your even more beautiful now and honestly I worry how your dad is gonna keep the suitors away from you and your sister because there will be many.”

“I’m pretty sure he just glares at them and then they’ll leave. He’s pretty intimidating.”

“He can be, he’s a big softy inside though. The first time you got sick I was a mess, I was freaking out and I was so worried about you but he just handled it. Calmed me down and then just took care of you. He forced me to take a nap to relax and when I came downstairs a few hours later he was laid on the couch with you on his chest, you were fast asleep and he just had this look of content on his face while he stroked your hair. Baby I know this is gonna be hard on all of you but I really need you to take care of him because he’ll push himself too and far and he’ll try and do too much. So I need you to tell him when to stop, because you are so much like me and I know how strong you are.”

“I know. I’ll always take care of my family and I’ll make sure to go see grandpa all the time so he’s not alone.”

“That’s good baby.” Julia gripped tighter on to Stiles’s hospital gown and he stroked her hair as she cried against his shoulder. He let his tears fall silently so he could be strong for her and after awhile he felt her relax against him as she cried herself to sleep.

“There has to be something I can do.”

“I’m sorry Derek.”

“But I can…” Derek was cut off as someone pushed the door open. He saw himself come in and push the door closed behind him, Stiles waved him over and Derek went round to Stiles’s free side.

“I thought she might be here.”

“I should never have banned her.”

“You wanted to protect her.”

“Where’s Claudia?”

“With Melissa, she said I looked like I needed a break from all her questions.”

“How is she? Melissa I mean.”

“She’s good, Scott should be here tomorrow, Lydia picked him up on her drive home.”

“That’s good.”

“Stiles...”

“Derek please.”

“Stiles...”

“I know that tone okay. I know you want to talk about this, about me dying and that I’m never gonna see Julia grow up in to an amazing women or I’ll never know Claudia past the age of 5 maybe 6. But I just can’t do this, I can’t say goodbye to you.”

“I can’t go the rest of my life knowing I didn’t say goodbye.”

“Why?”

“Because Stiles you know how much I lost and I wish everyday that I was able to tell my family that I loved them and that I miss them. I can’t live knowing that I could tell you all that and I didn’t because you asked me not too.”

“This isn’t fair. It’s not fair that I’m gonna die, none of this is fair for me, I’m leaving everyone I love, I’m watching my dad try and stay together because his son is dying from the same thing that took his wife. So why the hell should I be fair?”

“Stiles I love you. I love you so much that I know when you die I will die right along with you because you are everything. I know its not fucking fair believe me I fucking know. Your world wasn’t the only one that crumbled into nothing when you found out. I would give anything to be the one that dies, if I could change this I would, and I know how selfish it is of me but I wish it was someone else.”

“I’m sorry Derek, I’m so sorry.” Derek grabbed Stiles face and kissed him, it hurt them both more than they’d ever admit but they needed it, needed to know that for now they were both still there. Stiles gripped the back of Derek’s t-shirt and Derek ran his hand back and forth over Stiles’s shoulders. “I love you.”

Laura wrapped her arms around Derek and he put his head on her shoulder, he hadn’t even noticed he’d been crying. “Get me the fuck out of here Laura.” She nodded against him and then they were outside and it was morning. Sobs wracked his body and he gripped her shirt as she ran her hands up and down his back to soothe him. He unfurled his hands and stepped back out of her space.

“How long does he have after that?”

“He dies two weeks later.”

“What happens if I go right?”

“Derek I’m supposed to sh…”

“I don’t fucking care Laura just tell me.”

“A woman named Jennifer, you ask her out and you go for drinks, then dinner and you propose in 4 years and you have a son in 2 years later and then a daughter and she doesn’t die and you live grow old together. And you die in your sleep when you're 78.”

“So left I have pain, right I have the perfect life.”

“Essentially.”

“How is that a choice? One way I’m happy, one way I’m not.”

“You would be for 16 years.”

“That’s not a consolation Laura, but you’ve shown me all of this so couldn’t I do something. I could make him get regular check ups.” He looked up at Laura and her eyes were glistening with unshed tears and she looked like she never wanted to let him make a choice. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“Once you’ve made the decision you forget.”

“What?”

“As soon as you make the decision you’ll start to forget everything you’ve seen. By the time you’ve met Stiles or Jennifer you won’t remember any off this.”

“So I pick Jennifer and I never remember Stiles, I just get on with my life. But I pick Stiles and I forget that he’ll get sick, I’m gonna forget he dies and so basically I have to go through all of that again. I can’t even prepare myself for what’s gonna come, I can’t do anything to change it.”

“I’m so sorry Derek, I wish you could but it doesn’t work like that.”

“How does any off this help me? How is this fate trying to make up for killing my whole family?”

“They wanted you to be able to know...”

“Know what? That if I go left there not to blame because I picked the fucking death of my husband. Or if i go right then I am choosing some woman so that I don’t have to feel like this.”

“Der...”

“Don’t. Laura before you intervened I was going right, I was heading right. You and fate didn’t help me, you gave me this shitty feeling for nothing because I can’t deal with that, I’ve been through too much. I’m going right.”

“Derek please think about this.”

“I love you Laura and I do miss you, but I need you to send me back.”

“No Derek please.”

“Please Laura.”

“I love you too.” She kissed his cheek and she smiled at him, it would have looked almost happy if the tears streaming down her cheeks hadn’t been there. She shoved him back and he stumbled further down the path and then she was gone. He looked around the street but she was nowhere in sight. At the top of the street he could see a crowd of people gathering around someone. He knew what it was, he’d traded places with the man who was supposed to get hit by the car. Derek brushed the stray tears from his eyes and rubbed his hands over his face before walking down the street. Left or right wasn’t much of a decision. He was closer to the top of the street and he thought about Stiles. As soon as he turned right it would all become like a dream, something you forget the longer you're awake. He thought about his smile when Derek had proposed, how nervous he had been to ask him to move in, their first date and the first time they met in front of that coffee shop that Derek had never even heard off but probably loved after that, and those memories were all Derek would ever have and in a few minutes he wouldn’t even have that. He would go right and he would meet Jennifer and they would spend their whole life together and make new memories, they would have two children and he would get to live his entire life with her. Derek stopped as he came to the top of the street. He looked to his left and then right and he turned so that he face right. He started walking because he had too he could never live with that pain in his life. Couldn’t add to the pain he always had because of his family. He frowned as something didn’t make sense anymore, the pain in his chest was there but he didn’t know why, it was stronger than it had ever been. He walked further and the pain lessened but he felt like he was losing something, something he had forgotten. He stopped. He tried to force himself to remember something, there was something he had to remember, something that made him feel hollow without. He turned around and walked. He walked till he was back to the top of the street. He stood in the spot he had been in moments ago and he looked down both streets. He looked right and it was as though his whole body was screaming at him, telling him that it was the right way to go, that he needed to go right. Derek looked left and it almost left him breathless at how much his heart started to hurt, how much it ached. He started walking and he knew there was something he needed, he knew he was going the right way.

He went left.


End file.
